1

PRODUCTION ON ABUDGET

Christina Fox and David Fox

www.urbanfox.tv

UrbanFox LtdAll of this presentation will go on our website

www.urbanfox.tv/seminar

WHAT CAMERA SHALLI BUY?

What is your budget?

BUDGETWhatever your budget - don’t forget you’ll need to setaside some money for a tripod, mics, lights, editing…..

Think about 50:50

So if you spend £3,000 on the camera - you couldeasily spend £3,000 on all the other stuff.

HOW WILL YOU USE IT?

• Internet broadcasting, podcast, vodcast– £500 - £2,000

• Weddings, special interest videos (SIV)– £500 - £3,000

• Corporate, broadcast and stock footage.– £3,000 - £?,???

• Documentary– £3,000 - £?,???

• Drama– £1,500 - £?,???

HOW WILL YOU USE IT?

…• The lens• The imaging system• The recording format• Camera choices• Audio• Lighting• Editing

LENSES• Cheaper cameras tend to have fixed lenses.

• Focus lag

• Probably won’t zoom out wide enough

LENSESIf you spend more you can get a camera withinterchangeable lenses.-Canon XL range-JVC HD range-Sony DSR, Z7 or EX3…

But, check your budget…

…will you be able to afford a second lens (even if youbuy an HD DSLR)?

2

THE IMAGING SYSTEM

• SD or HD?• Only a choice if you buy second hand• SD is OK for internet• SD can be better in low light than HD equivalent• Some have night vision for very low light conditions.

THE IMAGING SYSTEM• CCD and CMOS• More = better (max of 3)• Bigger = better = more expensive

Sony HVR-A1 => 1/3inch CMOS £1,700Sony HVR-Z5 => 1/3inch 3CMOS £3,200Panasonic HPX301 => 1/3inch 3CMOS £7,250Sony PMW-EX1R=> 1/2inch 3CMOS £4,680Sony DSR-450 => 2/3inch 3CCD £11,960

(all prices ex VAT)

Canon EOS 550D => APS-C 1CMOS £700

THE IMAGING SYSTEM

• CCD better for interlaced pictures• CMOS better for progressive• True progressive?• 25f or 25p• 24p anyone?

THE IMAGING SYSTEMCMOS - No smearing

• Rolling shutter– Partial exposure - flash– Banding - fluorescent lights– Skew– Wobble

THE IMAGING SYSTEMCMOS

RECORDING MEDIA

• TAPE• EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES• INTERNAL HARD DRIVES• OPTICAL DISC RECORDING• SOLID STATE RECORDING

…TAPE…

• Cheap• Very reliable• Proven to be archive-able• Comes in edit friendly formats

…EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE…

• Useful for long events• 40GB = 3hrs• Firestore 60Gb - £850• Sony HVR-DR60 - £500

…EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE…• Expensive• Where do you put it?• Insecure firewire socket• Good back-up• Long record times

- Sony NX5 11 hours• Possibility of faster workflow

3

Mega bits• DV/DVCAM (25 Mbps)• DVCPRO (25 Mbps)• DVCPRO 50• DVCPRO HD (100 Mbps)• HDV (19 + 25 Mbps)• XDCAM EX (25 + 35 Mbps)• AVCHD (various)• AVC-I (50 + 100 Mbps)

Camera outputsFireWire used to be the way to get videoand audio into an external hard drive.

Look out for cameras with:» HDMI» HDSDI

Solid State Recording

Convergent Design (Polecam stand)

Flash XDR or nanoFlash - Up to220Mbps I-frame recording

…INTERNAL HARD DRIVES…• Only on lower cost handycams• AVCHD Format - editable?• Usually highly compressed video• Long recording times

40GB = 15hours• You must archive to a

separate drive

…OPTICAL DISC…

• Within this budget records to DVD• Low quality• Hard to edit• Avoid

…SOLID STATE…

• Getting cheaper• No moving parts• Pretty reliable• Pretty resilient too

(washing machine safe)

…SOLID STATE…• Panasonic P2• DVCPRO HD or AVC-I• P2 still expensive• £640 - 64GB card• 1GB = 1min HD• No moving parts

…SOLID STATE…

• Sony PMW-EX1R & EX3• SxS Cards (S by S)• 16GB = 50/70mins• 16GB card = £320• So, not cheap

…SOLID STATE…

• Cheap Kensington reader withSD card work around

• 16Gb=£25 inc VAT

Loads of info including acompatibility list fromGuy Barwoodhttp://tinyurl.com/d4m8wt

4

…SOLID STATE…

• Canon EOS 550D• 1080p 24/25/30• 18 mega pixels• APS-C CMOS• MPEG-4 44Mbps• SDHC cards• £700 (+ lenses)

…Hybrids…

• Sony HVR-Z5 & Z7Mini DV tape and Compact Flash

• Sony NX5SDHC or Memory Stick and

External Hard Drive

CAMERA CHOICES

CAMERA CHOICES

Internet broadcastingPanasonic 700 series ‘semi pro’ camcorder-1920x1080 @ 50fps-AVCHD @ 28Mbps-3xMOS sensors-SDHC/SDXC cards-5.1 surround sound…

HDC-SD700 version £799 (available March)

CAMERA CHOICES

Weddings/special interestCanon XH A1S-Excellent in low light (0.4Lux)-One of cheapest camcorders with HDSDI-HDV (tape only)-£2,300

CAMERA CHOICES

Weddings/special interestCanon 5D MkII-Full Frame 35mm sensor-Wonderful choice of lenses-Good in low light-Compact Flash-Takes photos too…

-30 frames per second only (until new firmware)-£1,850 (body only) or £2,500 with lens

Also EOS 7D or 550D

CAMERA CHOICES CAMERA CHOICES

Weddings/special interestSony HVR-Z5-Pretty good in low light (1.5Lux)-HDV (tape) plus Compact Flash-Can record to both at same time-Not too heavy-£3,200

Also consider HVR-Z7 for interchangeable lensesOr HXR-NX5 for solid-state and 11 hour HDD

CAMERA CHOICES

Weddings/special interestJVC HM700-Shoulder mounted, comfortable-Records native QuickTime .MOV for instantediting on Final Cut Pro (35Mbps)-SxS and SDHC-3xCCDs (no rolling shutter)-Interchangeable lenses-£5,300

5

CAMERA CHOICES

Corporate, broadcast and stock footageJVC HM700-Shoulder mounted, comfortable-Records native QuickTime .MOV for instantediting on Final Cut Pro (35Mbps)-SxS and SDHC-3xCCDs (no rolling shutter)-Interchangeable lenses-£5,300

CAMERA CHOICES

Corporate, broadcast and stock footagePanasonic HPX301– DVCPRO HD and AVC-Intra 50/100Mbps– 10-bit 4:2:2 recording– Shoulder mounted– Interchangeable lenses– Records to P2 cards– £7,250

CAMERA CHOICES

Corporate, broadcast and stock footageCanon 5D MkII-Full Frame 35mm sensor-Wonderful choice of lenses-Good in low light-Compact Flash-Takes photos too…-30 frames per second only (until new firmware)-£1,850 (body only) or £2,500 with lens

Also EOS 7D or 550D

CAMERA CHOICES

Corporate, broadcast and stock footageSony PMW-EX1R/EX3– 35Mbps SxS cards (4:2:0)– Not always accepted for HD broadcast– EX3 has interchangeable lenses– £4,600/£5,600

CAMERA CHOICESObservational Documentary

Sony HXR-NX5-Solid-state 2xSDHC cards or Memory Sticks-Optional 11 hour external HDD-AVCHD @ 24Mbps (has to be transcoded for use onAvid or Final Cut Pro)-Has ‘SD’ but don’t use it… (only 9Mbps)

£3,300

CAMERA CHOICESDrama

Canon 5D MkII-Full Frame 35mm sensor-Wonderful choice of lenses-Good in low light-Compact Flash-Takes photos too…-30 frames per second only (until new firmware)-£1,850 (body only) or £2,500 with lens

Also EOS 7D or 550D

CAMERA CHOICES

DramaIkonoskop A-Cam dII-1920x1080 uncompressed 12-bit 4:4:4 (DNG RAW)-80GB Memory card-Tiny-Variety of lens mounts-1xCCD (Super 16mm equivalent)-Not shipping until Summer-About €5,000

CAMERA CHOICES

DramaRed One-Not within our budget-Hire @ £250 per day (£1,000 per week)-You’ll really need two of them…

UrbanFox Ltd

All of this presentation will go on our website

www.urbanfox.tv/seminar

6

Any questions?

Retailers

• www.creativevideo.co.uk• www.mitcorp.co.uk• www.visuals.co.uk• www.top-teks.co.uk• www.prokit.co.uk

Tripods

• Spend as much as possible(£200 - £700)

• Weight (carbon fibre is expensive)• Robust - outlive the camera• Min and Max height• Easy to use leg adjustments

Tripods

• Video NOT a photographic tripod

• Mid level or ground level spreader• Spirit level• Quick release hot shoe• Pan and tilt head• Separate pan and tilt head frictions

Alternative Support

The Podwww.jessops.com

Double Bean bag

www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk

Alternative Support• Monopod (Manfrotto 560B 561B)• Magic arm with Superclamp

FEATURES… THERE ARE 5 THINGS THAT MAKE

CAMERAS GOOD

• The lens• The imaging system• The recording format• Audio• Lighting

IF YOU ONLY HAVE AMINIJACK MIC INPUT

Then you may need anXLR adapter…

A BeachTek box (DXA-4)

7

Cheap Alternative Basic Sound Kit

•Gun mic (hypercardioid)great for noisy places

•Sennheiser 416P–www.mcdauctions.co.uk•Sennheiser ME66 (K6)•Rode NTG1 and 2•Beyerdynamic MCE 86

Basic Sound Kit

• Personal mic (Tie, clip, lavalier)• Omni directional - good for interviews

• Sony ECM77 or ECM88• Tram TR-50• Sanken COS-11

Basic Sound KitRadio mic

Sennheiser Evolution(EW112-p G2)

Basic Sound Kit

• Sony UWP-C1 series

• Diversity System

Basic Kit

• XLR-XLR cables30cm, 1m, 2m, 3m(quad flex)

• Closed Headphones– Sennheiser HD25

Sound Equipment

• www.ltf-uk.com• www.creativevideo.co.uk• www.canford.co.uk

FEATURES… I THINK THERE ARE 5 THINGSTHAT MAKE CAMERAS GOOD

•The lens•The imaging system•The recording format•Audio•Lighting

Lighting kit

Lights are tools. You need the correctlight to do a specific job well.

SO…

Please don’t buy three identical lamps

8

Interview kit• Hard light–Dedo aspheric2 (150W)

• Soft Light– Lowell Rifa 44 (300W)

Interview Kit•Around £1,000 +VAT

LED On-Camera Light

• Cool light• 0-100% dimmable• No colour temp change• Lamp life 10,000 hours• Very low battery

consumption (11W)

• LitePanels LP Micro £246 ex vat

LED On-Camera Light

• Dedolight DLOBML• On camera light with articulating arm• £355 ex vat

Lighting Kit Extras• RCD

• Circuit tester

Lighting Kit Extras

• Daylight colour-correction gel• Extension leads• Magic arm

www.studiolighting.co.uk

RUN OUT OF MONEY?• …buy a reflector• Search for 5 in 1 reflector on eBay

• Don’t buy one that istoo big unless youhave an assistant tohold it.

Trolly• Folding sack truck (eBay)• Carries 50-90Kg Load

Plus

• A good suitcase on wheels• A rucksack - so you always

know where your kit is

FEATURES…

THERE ARE 5 THINGS THATMAKE CAMERAS GOOD…

9

Actually, can we make thatsix …

EDITING You’re not buying a computer……you’re buying an edit suite

BUY A MACBuy a Mac

The Intel models (will run Windows too)

Buy a refurbished Mac … http://tinyurl.com/227sxz

RAM

Get lots of it

www.crucial.com

Hang on a minute…I’ve thought of another

thing that makes your videolook good…

The person operating it

For training go towww.urbanfox.tv